Junior Bird Man

Hola friends and family,

The 4 Webbs are all healthy again, finally. Our back injuries are healed and no one has a fever or snotty nose. The timing worked out well because we are able to fully enjoy our guests, Neill and Jenny, as they join in our adventures.

A few days ago Easton asked for me to read his favorite book of all, the "Big Space Book"


This is certainly not 2 year old light-reading material and by no means comparable to Green Eggs and Ham. I found it at Barnes and Noble several months ago. I bought it because I grew tired of showing him poorly sketched planes in the children's books. I decided since Easton loves aerospace so much, why dumb it down and show terrible drawings of planes when I can show him pictures of real aircraft? He calls the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird a "fighter jet" and I don't bother to correct him even though its primary missions were global reconnaissance. It's the fastest jet-powered, crewed aircraft ever so I'm proud of him for recognizing the plane as the essence of awesomeness.

Anyway, I left the book on our coffee table and noticed Neill spent the better part of an afternoon reading intently through it. That's when the idea hit me... Let's take this to another level. Why just look at pictures when we can actually SEE the real thing? So the three of us guys drove to the Pima Air Museum in Tucson.

Viola! there it is in all of its glory. We actually TOUCHED it!


There are only 20 SR-71's left in the entire world and this one is less than 2 hours from our house. If you're really nerdy check out this map, which shows the location of all remaining SR-71s in existence.

We also saw 300 other aircraft on the premises as we toured the facility in a tram guided by a very knowledgeable war veteran.


On the trip down I asked Easton which airplane he wanted to see and his response was, "a big jumbo jet!" So here's Big Time catching some shade from the wing of a retired Presidential (Air Force One) jumbo jet.


My main goals of the trip were to be worth-while for Neill and enlightening for Easton. It is clear both of those goals were met and I had an excellent time along the way as well.


Easton's imagination still reigns over logic. I know this because tonight he said the airplanes needed to take a nap as he aligned them and turned them upside down. :)


Meanwhile back at the ranch we rotate Easton and Layla's toys every few weeks. I brought out the stuffed animal puppies, which move around and whimper at the touch of a button.


We get all of the benefits of teaching them how to be gentle, but avoid the messy paw prints and feeding expense. Easton put the pretend bone on top of the dog's head and told him to sit.


Maybe someday we will get a couple of real dogs, but right now it is enough work to keep up with the twins without the added responsibility of pets.

In other news, the novelty of sliding into the pool wore off so it is back in our living room getting more use than ever. Without a doubt this is the most used toy over the past year.


You can tell by their smiles we have many more trips down the slide in store before it loses the appeal.


As a special treat we took Neill and Jenny out to Malee's Thai Bistro for dinner which included their famous Tom Ka Gai soup with a flame in the middle of the soup bowl.


The best part about the evening was a break from the twins while sharing a quiet meal with Neill and Jenny. We spent the evening walking the streets of Scottsdale looking at art galleries.


We still have a few more days with Neill and Jenny to balance relaxation and adventures. I'm sure we'll make the most of it.

See you soon!